1. Field of Use
This invention relates generally to a blade sharpener insert for a knife scabbard.
2. Description of the Prior Art
Knives used by sportsmen for hunting, fishing and other purposes are typically carried in a scabbard which can be attached to the belt of the user. For best service, it is desirable to sharpen the knife blade before use or as conditions require. Therefore, the user may carry in his pocket, pack or tackle box some type of blade sharpening device, such as a conventional small abrasive stone or two elongated cylindrical ceramic sharpening sticks which are detachably mounted on a base board and storable in a carrying case. Not infrequently, such sharpening devices are not at hand or are difficult or impossible to locate when needed, or even turn out to be lost. As a result, the knife sometimes goes unsharpened and the user is frustrated and upset. In multi-component devices the possibility of component loss and breakage is another problem to consider.
The prior art contains numerous examples of knives and knife scabbards having blade sharpening means thereon or associated therewith and the following patents illustrate the state of the art.
U.S. Pat. No. 2,767,530 (issued 1956) shows a pair of angularly disposed abrasive elements permanently attached to a metal bracket at the top opening of a leather sheath for engagement by the knife blade. U.S. Pat. No. 3,307,756 (issued 1967) shows a rigid knife sheath which has a honing stone covering and secured to the exterior side thereof and available for sharpening the knife. U.S. Pat. No. 3,846,909 (issued 1974) shows a knife sharpener carried by a detachable portion of a knife handle which may be slid along the knife blade to effect sharpening. Other U.S. patents show sharpeners mounted on the knife sheath or in the knife handle and these patents are: U.S. Pat. Nos. 2,791,831 (issued 1957); 2,744,320 (issued 1956); 2,658,272 (issued 1953); 2,651,839 (issued 1953) and 2,416,929 (issued 1947). U.S. Pat. Nos. 4,091,691 (issued 1978); 3,774,350 (issued 1973); 3,676,961 (issued 1972) and 3,861,246 (issued 1975) show a combined storage case and sharpener.
U.S. patent application Ser. No. 371,654 to Paul C. Mayer for "Knife Scabbard with Integral Blade Sharpener", which issued Jan. 31, 1984 as U.S. Pat. No. 4,428,515, and assigned to the same assignee as the present application discloses a rigid plastic belt-mountable scabbard for carrying a sportsman's knife. The scabbard comprises spaced apart rigid side walls defining an elongated passage open at one end for receiving and protecting the blade of a knife carried in the scabbard. A knife blade sharpener means is permanently mounted on the scabbard and, in one embodiment, comprises a blade-receiving sharpening slot extending transversely through the scabbard and passage therein. The slot is formed by aligned holes in two opposite side walls of the scabbard. The sharpener means further comprises sharpening elements in the form of a pair of cylindrically shaped and angularly arranged ceramic abrasive elements which are permanently attached to the outside of one wall of the scabbard and overlap a portion of the sharpening slot. A V-shaped groove defined by the sharpening elements makes sliding engagement with the edge of the blade of a knife which has been removed from the scabbard, inserted in the sharpening slot and then reciprocably moved in the slot to effect blade sharpening.